Creeping Toward “Postponed” Elections or Chicken Little?

(Reuters) – The U.S. security alert level in Washington will be raised to ‘high’ from ‘elevated,’ CNN reported on Sunday.

The raising of the alert level in the U.S. capital will be announced shortly by Department of Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge, the network said.
The Homeland Security Department said it could not confirm the CNN report but said a news conference was planned for 2 p.m.

The report came as top federal and local law enforcement officials met in New York over the weekend to discuss new intelligence about a possible al Qaeda attack against major corporations or high-profile buildings in Manhattan. New York was the city most affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with almost 2,800 people killed when hijacked planes destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center, but the Pentagon, near Washington, was also hit in the attacks.

The New York threat was first reported by ABC News, which said the authorities were particularly disturbed that the information indicated attacks may be carried out by one or more suicide truck bombings.

Following the meetings, the NYPD issued a statement that said: “Intelligence reporting indicates that al Qaeda continues to target for attack commercial and financial institutions, as well as international organizations, inside the United States.”